Residents, community groups respond to call for help and pitch in nearly $61,000 to Brighter Christmas Fund

Participants in the annual Anderson Toy Parade arrive at the Civic Center of Anderson.

Independent Mail

photos by Sefton Ipock/Independent Mail
Onlookers wave as motorcyclists arrive at the Civic Center of Anderson in the annual Anderson Toy Parade. Money raised from the parade is given to the Brighter Christmas Fund.

Independent Mail

Some of the names that are on the Brighter Christmas Fund donation list make it to that list every year.

Groups of people, some of them who have been donating for years, send in checks — such as "The Queen," who mails in a check as a way of honoring "the YaYas." There are anonymous donors who give money in honor of Jesus, and some who donate in honor of particular Sunday school classes.

Then there are newcomers, like the person who donated $26 in memory of the 26 children, teachers and faculty killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on Dec. 14.

Some give to honor a friend or family members. Others do it as a way of remembering a lost loved one.

But they all give to help. Every penny of it goes to families in Anderson County who, for various reasons, find themselves unable to buy holiday presents for their children.

The money goes to help mothers who are struggling through college, trying to make a better life for themselves and their children. It also goes to families who have had to take in nieces and nephews to raise unexpectedly, and families who find themselves among the working poor.

An increasing number of the families who receive help include a mother, a father and several children with at least one if not two incomes coming into the house. The problem: they are making just enough to pay the bills but there is nothing left over at all for clothes or other things that their children need, let alone want.

Some of the families who were helped this year were still dealing with the loss of a loved one, or the loss of all their material belongings to a fire.

So far, this year, the money that has been sent in — from the $1 donations to the $12,000 donation — has totaled nearly $61,000.

As of Friday, donations were still coming in, and the total had reached $ 60,881.42.

The Friends of Broadway Lake, the Confederate Motorcycle Club, the Stone Creek Cove Homeowners Association and Palmetto Moonshine held events to raise money for the seasonal charity. A cardboard boat race was held on Broadway Lake, a golf tournament took place at the Stone Creek Cove Golf Course, motorcycles traveled down Main Street in Anderson for the Anderson Toy Parade, and the folks at Palmetto Moonshine let patrons take a sledgehammer to a car painted orange and crimson.

The Brighter Christmas Fund is a holiday charity that was started by the Independent Mail staff more than 30 years ago. It is now a partnership between the Independent Mail and the Foothills Community Foundation.

Businesses such as Kmart and SunTrust Bank also pitch in and help the charity. Once a family is approved for assistance, its members are accompanied on a shopping trip to Kmart so they can pick out clothes, shoes and toys for their children.

Volunteers complete all of the work for the charity. So all the money raised goes to families in need.

Donations in 2011 totaled $72,618. Thanks to the money raised in 2011, there were 418 families who were approved for assistance this year. The money raised this year will go to help the families who apply for help next year.